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The Chef shrieked out his indignation as he caught sight of a small child, a girl wearing a magenta sweater and a bandage on her leg from the corner of his eye. She was attempting to scamper off with an ill-gotten piece of meat, an unforgivable sin for which he immediately gave chase.
Cleaver in hand, he ran after her with all due haste, and had no intention of letting her escape. But the damned brat really was a bit of a scamp, making the best use of her tiny size to avoid his chopping swings and malice filled grasp.
The girl did her best to hide under tables, and if not for the tasty prize she carried in her hands, escaping the Chef would've been a much easier affair. 'It can't be helped,' she thought, waiting for the big bastard to feign losing interest in capturing her and step back from the table she took cover under, giving her a chance to run away because he was too large to bend down and reach beneath it.
Admittedly, snagging a meal had always been a bit of a hastle. It was much easier before she'd met her friends to sneak in when she only had to feed and fend for herself. But she promised them that she would return with a meal fit to call a feast, an overexaggeration on her part sure, considering how the most she could carry was akin to a morsel, same as herself.
Still, she didn't intend to go back on her word, no matter how dangerous her path ahead.
Satisfied that the Chef had backed far enough away, the girl dashed out from where she hid. He screamed again but had seemingly miscalculated just how far from her he was.
Perfect! He wouldn't be able to catch her in time from way back there!
All the girl had to do was make it to the pantry. And she knew perfectly well that there would be an uncovered vent in which she could crawl to freed-
A large leg stomped out from behind the corner of the open pantry door.
"Oof!" she squeaked, running headlong into it and falling hard on her butt, delicious prize still clutched close. Looking up, she saw the scowling face of the OTHER Chef, the second of a twin pair who also worked for the Maw.
'Oh right, there were two of them. Why didn't I remember this?' she wondered. Giving them an awkward grin, she weighed her best and only course of action.
Begging for mercy.
"I don't suppose you'd let me-"
The Chefs weren't having any of her silly, rambling nonsense. The twin who'd originally spotted her promptly picked the poor girl up by her bandaged leg. No longer in a hurry, he calmly brought her to a stove with a pot of boiling water and held her high above it.
Grinning, he was happy the thief hadn't ended up dropping that piece of meat she stole. Between her and it, they should both be more than enough for the stew he planned to cook.
Grimacing, she clenched her teeth and yelped after her leg was released. Either the pain she was about to experience would hurt like nothing else she'd ever experienced and burn her to death, or else-
There would be a portal in the water which she luckily fell through...
And to the sounds of boyish cries, she plopped out from a different pot, far from the Maw's kitchen where the murderous Chef's eyes widened, completely confused.
Pushing past an unimpressed girl in a yellow raincoat, Six, who'd set a fire beneath the cook pot with her lighter beforehand and brought the water inside to a simmer, a boy in blue with a shackle on his leg, Seven, rushed to his companion's aid as she spluttered, sprawled on the floor.
"Eight!? What the Hell happened to you?" Seven asked, full of concern for his best friend. He immediately noticed how her skin was pinker than usual, as if she'd been slightly burned all over. Not bad enough to leave her blistered but frightened enough to breathe in quick, shuddering gasps.
"Portal?" questioned a boy in a trench coat with a paper bag worn on his head, Mono, having a better understanding of the strange phenomenon compared to the others. Eight's nods were all the answer he needed. Granted, the only reason for his freedom in the first place was her, seeing as how she was also similarly familiar with traveling through portals of a different nature than himself.
"Nevermind all that, did you get it?" Six asked, wholly unconcerned about the life and death struggle Eight had faced on everyone's behalf.
Mono and Seven gave disgusted sighs but Eight took it all in stride. Getting to her knees, she showed Six the piece of meat she had managed to snatch and bring along with her.
"Welcome to dinner!"